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What would you buy Sub $350 Firewire/USB DAC

Hello and thank you for reading my post.

I have a pair of B&W DM 610s with a Music Fidelity B1 amplifier. My old ADC CD player is slowly passing away, and I've been thinking of using my IBM X61 laptop as an audio source.

Here is a short list that I'm considering, and I would greatly appreciate any advice.

Best,

Music Prof.

StyleAudio Carat-HD1V
Styleaudio Peridot USB DAC
Fubar III
DIYEDEN SVDAC05 USB DAC
DIYEDEN SVDAC04 USB DAC
Blue Circle USB
AudioSector USB NOS DAC
Apogee Mini-DAC w/USB option
Peter Daniel NOS USB DAC
DacMagic Digital to Analogue Converter
Peter Daniel USB DAC
KECES 151 USB DAC
KECES DA-131 USB DAC
Vintage Audio Lab DAC
Squeezebox classic
Musiland MD 10 Bit Select USB DAC
DIYEDEN SVDAC05 USB DAC
Yulong DAH 1 USB DAC
music_prof

Showing 4 responses by drubin

drubin
3,282 posts
 
It's not enough to simply have a USB input on a DAC. Implementation is tricky and only a few manufacturers are doing a really good job of it. (I've ordered a Keces to check it out.) For example, with my Bel Canto DAC3, I prefer Toslink out of my Mac Mini to USB out to the Bel Canto's USB input. Bel Canto has just introduced an accessory box to convert USB to S/PDIF. They claim superior sonics as well as 24/96 capability. You are definitely not hearing the Bel Canto at its best when using the USB input. And they are not alone in this regard -- most manufacturers are not doing USB right.
drubin
3,282 posts
 
The Bel Canto box is $500. Includes a short length of Stereovox digital cable. I don't believe they are gouging us at this price. Rather, it shows what it takes to do USB right.
drubin
3,282 posts
 
You can do USB cheap, but it sounds it. The Hagerman device does the job but does not sound good. I'm looking for USB playback that equals or beats transport to DAC. Obviously, Ckorody and I disagree.

The Bel Canto device is available but is not on the Web site. Contact them or a BC dealer.
drubin
3,282 posts
 
Given that the interest in USB DACs is relatively new, I wonder if the next year or so will bring reasonably good budget audiophile products to the market.
I think there's a decent likelihood of that. But as Musicman suggested, the more expensive chipset seems to be a key ingredient, as does some firmware that has to be licensed. Both of these imply steeper price points. Take my comments with a grain of salt, they're just my impressions based on investigating this topic for the past few months.
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